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How can a patriarchal blessing help me?

A patriarchal blessing is personal revelation for our lives. It helps us understand our potential and the blessings we can receive if we are faithful. It may contain promises, admonitions, or warnings to guide our lives. It also helps us know that Heavenly Father knows and cares about us personally.

Prepare yourself spiritually

If you have received a patriarchal blessing, how has it guided your life? How has it helped you in times of adversity? How has it inspired you?

In what ways can a patriarchal blessing be a guide in the lives of the young women you teach? Why is it important for them to know their lineage in the house of Israel? How can you help them prepare to receive a patriarchal blessing?

As you prepare, prayerfully study these scriptures and resources. What do you find that will be most helpful to the young women you teach?

Teaching in the Savior’s way

The Savior knows the young women in your class, and He knows who they can become. He finds unique ways to help each of them learn and grow. How can you teach of the Savior’s love for the young women as you talk about patriarchal blessings?

Share experiences

At the beginning of each class, invite the young women to share, teach, and testify about the experiences they have had applying what they learned in the previous week’s lesson. This will encourage personal conversion and help the young women see the relevance of the gospel in their daily lives.

Introduce the doctrine

Choose from these ideas, or think of your own, to introduce this week’s lesson:

If you have a patriarchal blessing, show the young women what it looks like (without sharing specific content). Share with them how it has blessed your life.

Write on the board, “How can a patriarchal blessing help me?” Ask the young women to suggest answers to this question. Refer back to this question throughout the lesson. As a part of your discussion, consider sharing Elder Carlos A. Godoy’s story about how his patriarchal blessing helped him make important decisions in his life (see “The Lord Has a Plan for Us!” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 96–98).

Learn together

Each of the activities below will help the young women learn about patriarchal blessings. Following the inspiration of the Spirit, select one or more that will work best for your class:

Invite one or more young women to share their experiences receiving a patriarchal blessing (or share your own experience). How have their patriarchal blessings helped them? (Remind the young women that the specific content of patriarchal blessings is sacred and should not be shared.) Cut a copy of the article “About Patriarchal Blessings” into pieces, one for each question and answer. Invite the young women to take turns selecting one piece of the article and sharing the question and answer with the class. What other questions do the young women have?

With the bishop’s permission, invite the stake patriarch to talk to the young women about patriarchal blessings. Encourage the young women to ask any questions they have.

Ask the young women to write down any questions they have about patriarchal blessings. As a class, look for answers in True to the Faith,pages 111–13.

As a class, read sections of Julie B. Beck’s talk “You Have a Noble Birthright” and President Henry B. Eyring’s comments about his patriarchal blessing in “Help Them Aim High.” After reading each section, invite the young women to write a statement that summarizes what they learn about patriarchal blessings.

Invite the young women to read the scriptures suggested in this outline and share what they feel each scripture teaches about patriarchal blessings.

Ask the young women to share what they learned today. Do they understand patriarchal blessings better? What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be helpful to spend more time on this doctrine?

Teaching tip

“When an individual asks a question, consider inviting others to answer it instead of answering it yourself. For example, you could say, ‘That’s an interesting question. What do the rest of you think?’ or ‘Can anyone help with this question?’” (Teaching, No Greater Call [1999], 64).

If they have received their patriarchal blessing, they could study it and make note of the counsel, warnings, spiritual gifts, and blessings it contains.

Share with the young women what they will be studying next week. What can they do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to next week’s lesson.